Impress for breakfast, lunch, or dinner in the 90210 on and around Rodeo Drive. Here are 6 places to add to your dining agenda in the upscale land of fancy cars, beautiful people, and gourmet food.
Find this brand-new fine dining restaurant on the glamorous first floor of the Waldorf Astoria, serving coastal Mediterranean flavors accented by European influences. It is open for breakfast and dinner.
Expect the ultimate service and care, with flawlessly presented dishes created by Executive Chef Steve Benjamin, who serves as the five-star hotel’s Culinary Director. Drawing inspiration from regions neighboring the South of France – including Italy, Spain, and Greece – the artfully crafted menu is an exquisite ode to the European coast. Made to share, the seasonally driven menu features locally sourced ingredients, highlighting contemporary California flavors and classic techniques.
Espelette is named after the Espelette pepper. Cultivated in Southwest France, the pepper is delicately infused to complement the simplicity of fresh ingredients and enhance the complexity of flavors, scents, and spices to stimulate the palate of each dish. Don’t miss ordering the crusty French baguette with the Espelette butter (better bread than France!) which is something I typically wouldn’t add to my order but believe me, it is worth it!
Starter highlights included the light salmon carpaccio with truffle, the yellowtail carpaccio, and the Langoustine Papillote, a lightly fried lobster puff frisee salad. Caviar lovers will adore the mini caviar menu and pasta aficionados will appreciate the Pappardelle Carbonara. We suggest sharing some of the main entrees like crispy Eggplant Parmesan and Dover Sole prepared tableside with a lemon butter brown sugar sauce. Other stellar options include the refreshing watermelon feta salad, the wood-grilled branzino, and wagyu ribeye.
The craft cocktail program also playfully invokes the spirit of the Mediterranean, drawing on flavors, aromas, and nodes meant to transport one’s senses to the European Coast but with local ingredients, because doesn’t everyone in LALALand want to be in Europe this summer? Transport yourself through their refreshing summer cocktails – with the Green Shutters made with tequila, yellow chartreuse, sugar snap pea, mint, lime, and a Mezcal spritz, or the Mediterranean Sky with Suntory Kahu vodka, vanilla, ginger, spirulina, coconut milk, and lemon. The extensive wine list highlights Spanish and French selections from the Biscay Bay coastal regions.
Desserts arrive resembling art. The tiramisu is layered in a martini glass topped with shaved coconut and a gold chocolate disk and the Strawberry Tart with a light pastry cream and basil strawberries sorbet looks too pretty to even mash up and eat.
From this 12th-story vantage point at the Waldorf Astoria, LA looks safe and dreamy with greenery-lined streets and the Hollywood Hills in the distance. Walk past the lengthy rooftop garden afloat up here before dining. This is the perfect spot to impress a date or take an out-of-town guest – one of the best rooftops in Los Angeles. Cocktail prices on the terrace are steep but worth the almost 360-degree views. Watch the sunset colors cascade over the city landscape with a Cucumber Martini, Ginger Margarita, or Cherry Whiskey Sour in hand.
Helmed by acclaimed chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten and featuring seasonal California cuisine with robust new offerings, some of our favorite rooftop bites are the fresh raw fish. Order Sashimi (4 types of fish) with spicy white ponzu and Crispy Salmon Sushi, a riff on LA’s favorite Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice. Other great shareable options include Sweet Pea Guacamole and the in indulgent French Fries and Caviar.
Sushi on The Rooftop by JG
While menu items often change with the seasons, heartier options include the truffle burger, the lobster shrimp burger with gruyere cheese, and the Creekstone Farms Tomahawk. Leave room for dessert like the rhubarb pastry puff pie topped with ice cream.
Not even 6 months old, this casual intimate bar-restaurant is an easy unpretentious place to grab a cocktail or dine outdoors streetside on Camden Drive. Watch the world go by over a Whispering Angel rose, some bubbles, a Chocolate Martini, or a tequila Espresso Martini.
Peach and burrata salad
Devour steak frites, fresh market catch, pizza (like Black Truffle or Wagyu Beef Pepperoni), or one of their fresh summer salads like Burrata and Peaches or a Chopped Salad topped with salmon, chicken, or steak. For a sweet ending, savor the Butterscotch Budino presented in a martini glass with a dollop of whipped cream. Check out the art inside showcasing old-school Hollywood icons all biting into something delicious.
For an indulgent Greek-inspired Mediterranean dinner including a fabulous fresh fish marketplace where you can select many kinds of fish on ice that you can order by the pound, step inside this stunningly designed 11,000-square-foot restaurant scene with indoor and outdoor seating. Unique whole grilled fish and shellfish offerings include more than branzino or a Dover sole – with Nigerian king tiger prawns larger than my hand, Fagri (a popular white snapper from Greece), Langoustine, pan-fried Barbounia, Lithrini (white snapper from Greece), Tsipoura (royal dorado) and more.
Choose your fish by the pound at Avra Beverly Hills
To pair with Avra’s complimentary starter of olives, hummus, and housemade pita, sip Avra’s umami-centric Dirty Martini with Greek vodka or a lovely Assyrtiko, Greek white wine from Santorini.
Nigerian tiger prawn
Share the traditional Greek salad topped with feta blocks, Avra’s signature Chips (crispy zucchini and eggplant) piled high with tzatziki sauce, and sashimi like branzino, hamachi, or salmon all doused with Avra’s luscious extra virgin olive oil. This rich full-flavored extra virgin olive oil – created from the finest Koroneiki olives in the Lakonian region of Peloponnesus in Greece – can also be found tableside. Although guests rave about the chicken and steak, we liked sampling various fish because you can pick out your selection and compare the different flavors. We recommend the Nigerian tiger prawn, langoustine, and pan-fried Barbounia.
Avra Beverly Hills
Lobster pasta will round out your indulgent experience and if there is room in your belly, you can’t miss the baklava or olive oil cake with whipped cream with a hint of lemon. The friendly waitstaff providing exceptional service really makes this experience special.
For 20 years, women-owned Crustacean has been serving loyal patrons their famous garlic noodles and tuna cigars (that arrive smoking in a cigar box). Heralded as the “Mother of Fusion” cuisine, the restaurant’s sexy remodel includes the new Anna May Bar honoring the first Asian American woman actress to receive a Walk of Fame star.
Don’t miss the new Power Lunch Menu, a 3-course Asian-fusion lunch from 12-3 on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Highlights include Crab Fried Rice, An’s Famous Garlic Noodles with Beef Satay, Lemon Whitefish Vermicelli, Ribeye Banh Mi ‘Pho’ Dip, and Pho with beef brisket or chicken. Start with Steamed Shrimp and Lobster Dumplings and end with a warm oven-baked chocolate chip cookie Utter satisfaction.
For dinner, share smaller bites on the open-air heated patio like baked crab legs with Asian pesto, filet mignon satay, eggplant fries with Thai basil, and salt and pepper calamari. Be sure to ask for off-menu items like caviar in a gold cosmetic case.
The cocktail menu pairs Asian spices and flavors like The Anna May showstopper with Mezcal, Aperol, Beychaud Bitters, and Champagne Yuzu Foam. And to add in the fun of dining here, champagne flights all around!
Come for weekend brunch to dine outside over classica like Avocado Toast, French Toast, Steak and Eggs, a Spinach and Mushroom Omelette, or a Smoked Salmon Bagel board. But we encourage ordering the Spanish tapas – designed to be shared – off their Cold and Hot Tapas Menu. Crafted by newly minted Chef Marva Desimone, star dishes include Andalusian Gazpacho, Ensaladilla Rusa (potato salad with shrimp and tuna), Tortilla Espanola (traditional Spanish Omelet), Croquetas de Jamón Ibérico, Croquetas de Maiz (sweet corn puree), and Gambas al Alijio (wild-caught shrimp with garlic, extra virgin olive oil and guindilla peppers).
Order sangria served as a cocktail or in a pitcher for the table to share. Individually served cocktails include sparkling wine, Aperol Spritz, Espresso Martini, Mimosa, Bellini, and Mojito. On weekends also find live jazz, DJ’s, and salsa lessons fueling this celeb hotspot.
Tatel can also be found in Ibiza, Mexico City, Madrid, Doha, and Valencia.
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